The Foil in Kate Chopin's "The Awakening"

Often times at the ocean, a pole can be seen protruding from the beneath the water. As the tide rises, less of the pole is visible. As it falls, more of it is visible. The pole stands as a stationary entity whose purpose is merely to measure the tide, the dynamic entity. In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Mme. Ratignolle stands as the static character by which the dynamic character, Edna, may be contrasted. The tide …showed first 75 words of 389 total…

…showed last 75 words of 389 total…their consequences with those of Mme. Ratignolle. Kate Chopin foreshadowed her conclusion by offering, "The voice of the sea is seductive...inviting the soul to wander for a spell of abysses of solitude," indicating her deportation from reality into the vainness of her imagination (15). The vague and saddening note of Chopin's closing is reminiscent of Longfellow's lines, The day returns, but nevermore Returns the traveler to the shore. And the tide rises, the tide falls.